Where to buy second hand clothes online in Australia

Op shopping is growing in popularity, and with good reason. Buying unique pre-loved gems is a real pleasure, plus you will save heaps of money. And the real bargains are to found online, all from the comfort of your home.

Pre-loved bargain hunting is the very best way to get your hands-on second-hand designer items and high-quality clothes and fashion accessories for a fraction of their original cost. And since most items are sold due to sizing issues, style-changes or need for cash, the quality is often really good.

But don’t take our word for it, why not take a look yourself? We’ve put together a handy list of the best places to buy second-hand clothes online.

Where to buy second-hand clothes online in Australia

First on our list is Modsie, a pre-loved luxury clothing and accessories shop that is a favourite of many fashionistas. Featuring brands like Louis Vuitton, Christian Louboutin, Prada and Chanel, this is the place to find classic, trendy and hard-to-find designer items. Everything is checked by their quality control team so you know you’re getting authentic, high-quality products. We love their extensive selection, especially the bags (over 1000 listings) and shoes (more than 700 items). If you’re looking to make some cash, product listings are free and Modsie charges a commission only when the item sells.

Round She Goes is a bargain clothes marketplace that holds a fashion market twice a year in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Known for its preloved designer items from Miu Miu, Gorman, Karen Walker and many others, this is the perfect thrift shopping experience for the vintage lover on a budget. The sellers at the Round She Goes pop-up markets are handpicked by the team to ensure high quality finds, diverse sizing and styles, and of course low prices. We suggest getting to the market early to get the best deals. If you can’t make it to the market, their website is the next best thing. Items are sorted by category with shipping costs displayed.

It’s rare to find a fashion brand that takes sustainability as seriously as Mottainai, an Australian online thrift store for affordable, pre-loved fashion. The name ‘Mottanai’ is a Japanese term that encourages the use of belongings for their entire effective life with respect and a sense of gratitude. Each piece is carefully inspected to ensure it will be of value to someone. Even their delivery service is carbon neutral using biodegradable and recyclable packaging. You’ll find your favourite brands here at up to 90% off the retail price in sizes from 4 to 22. What’s more, they also offer free shipping and free returns. If you’re looking to sell, their Clothing Exchange allows you to send in your pre-loved garments and receive store credit upfront. Store credit lasts forever, so you can take as long as you like to find something you love.

Range of items sold: Women’s clothes

Price range: $-$$

Delivery cost: Free standard shipping, $9.95 for express shipping

What we like most: Sustainable shopping experience, huge markdowns on top brands, free shipping and returns

Depop is a global marketplace app that is wildly popular with the younger crowd. It’s like eBay and Etsy mixed with Instagram, so no surprise that teenagers are the top users. You can also find lots of creatives and thrift store lovers here. Young people are reportedly making bank reselling second hand clothing as well as their own designs on Depop, but anyone can be a buyer or seller. Selling on Depop is pretty straightforward: List your item (from clothes to electronics to cards) for auction and invite bids, which you can accept at any time. Depop charges a 10% commission on the total transaction amount. For buyers, there’s a wide selection of low-priced, trendy fashion items and some high-end designer clothes.

The Closet is an online marketplace for affordable, pre-owned fashion ranging from designer threads to shoes. Many of the items are still brand new with tags intact but are sold at a fraction of the original cost (up to 90% off your favourite brands). The Closet carefully selects the items to ensure they are authentic and in perfect condition. Whether you are a hardcore thrift shopper or just a mum who wants to look great while saving some money, the Closet is the place to go.

Zaful sells brand new clothes and accessories that are on the trendy and young side (lots of cropped tops). Much like H&M and Forever21, the quality of the clothes can be questionable at times, but the styles are definitely cute and the prices are reasonable to average. Zaful has ongoing deals that are sorted into categories (from under $24.99 to under $3.99) so you can easily find what fits your budget. Their ‘Last Call’ sale section also has flash sales where you can grab hot items. Head to the Top Rated and Top Recommendations sections to see what other people are buying.

eBay is the grandma of online thrift shops. The website has been around for decades with a practically endless selection of items, from vintage clothes to one of a kind jewellery and accessories. The experience is like Amazon shopping but you save much more money if you know where to look and how the system works. Some items are only up for bids like an auction, while others are available to buy instantly. You can always contact the seller if you want to negotiate prices or have a bid-only item available to buy now.

MORE PLACES TO BUY SECOND HAND CLOTHES ONLINE

Another preloved thrift shopping website, Restyle Closet is a booming online marketplace where you can buy and sell second hand clothes and accessories (designer and otherwise). They take care of managing the entire sale, from taking professional photos to pricing to fulfilment, and you just sit back and collect the money. This is a great option if you are looking to make some cash selling preloved clothes but are too busy to make listings and ship items. On the buyer side, the items are more on the high-end luxury side, with designers like Marc Jacobs, Chanel, Gucci and Sass & Bide. The prices reflect that, but if you are a lover of all things luxe, Restyle Closet lets you indulge without spending too much.

Material World puts a modern spin on the thrift shopping experience with its Material Box, a subscription box filled with preowned designer items at 90% off retail. The difference from other subscription boxes is that you get to choose what goes in the box based on your style profile. Each box comes with 5 designer items—usually coordinating tops, bottoms and accessories from different designers. Once the box arrives you can choose the ones you like and send back the rest. The personal styling fee of $29/box is waived completely if you decide to keep just one item. If you buy all items, you get 20% off the total.

Carousell is a dedicated apps for brand new and preowned clothing, accessories and everything else. Sellers list their items for free and you buy them on the app. You can also negotiate prices and shipping/meetup with the seller. The app is popular so you can expect to see a wide range of items, but like other online sites that lack a dedicated QA team, we suggest checking seller feedback and reviews to make sure you get exactly what you pay for. For sellers of second-hand clothes, Carousell can be a huge money saver as there are no fees, but you do get plenty of lowballers.

Zouma is a fairly new and growing online marketplace for new and second-hand clothes and accessories. The categories range from formal dresses to kids’ clothes. There’s something for everyone whether you’re a working mum or a trendy young adult. There’s no star rating system for items at the time of this review, but you can click the Ask Seller button or send them a message if you have questions.

OUR FINAL SUGGESTIONS FOR SECOND HAND CLOTHES SHOPPING ONLINE

Another shop for second hand designer items (from Sass & Bide, Witchery, French Connection and the like), Perfectly Preloved is all about selecting high-quality clothes and selling them to customers at an affordable price. Each piece is carefully vetted so you know you’re getting the best. There’s quite a tiny selection at the moment (most items are sold or out of stock), but the number of sellers is growing every day and the inventory is expanding so we expect to see more variety here in the future. For sellers, the system is consignment only and not resale. Once the item sells, the profits are divided between you and the store.

Range of items sold: Women, men and kids’ designer clothes and accessories

Etsy is a favourite of the crafty, DIY and artist crowd, and it’s a great place to find second-hand and one-of-a-kind items, from clothes and shoes to toys and wall art. If designer is your thing, there are lots of vintage and brand-new vintage-y threads on offer. Etsy keeps promoting their items as being sold by independent sellers, but don’t be surprised if you find that many are shipped by big wholesale companies from overseas. The prices of some items are comparable to those sold by Amazon, but expect to pay more for unique finds or items coming from abroad.